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Blowout loss to the Jazz shows the Warriors have lost their aura of invincibility

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell (45) celebrates his 3-point bucket. The Utah Jazz lead the Golden State Warriors 62-33 during their game, Tuesday, April 10, 2018 at the Vivant Smart Home Arena.

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell (45) celebrates his 3-point bucket. The Utah Jazz lead the Golden State Warriors 62-33 during their game, Tuesday, April 10, 2018 at the Vivant Smart Home Arena.

The defense has slipped. The roster has been in constant flux, with key players in and out of the lineup. And the regular season has run out of games for the Golden State Warriors.

To a degree, you don’t need to sound the panic button. After all, they’ve won two of the past three NBA championships, and are locked into the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference when the playoffs start.

But, there has been slippage. The Warriors don’t seen invincible. They haven’t been the well-oiled machine that has dominated the league the past four seasons.

That’s one of the reasons coach Steve Kerr didn’t rest his best players Tuesday night against the Utah Jazz in Golden State’s regular-season finale in what turned into a 119-79 demolition at Vivint Smart Home Arena.

“I really wanted to see us defend well tonight,” Kerr said before the game. “When we do that, we’re really good. But our defense has been spotty in the last few weeks. I really wanted to tighten some things up and that’s the focus.”

But things didn’t work that way for the Warriors on Tuesday night. They played with the intensity of a summer AAU game in Vegas. Once the Jazz hit them with a 12-6 run to start the game, the Warriors stopped playing hard.

It’s difficult to blame them. The last thing they want is for a guy to injure himself in the last game of the season. There were nervous faces on the Warriors bench when star forward Kevin Durant fell hard on his tailbone during the first half.

But, it’s also hard to say the Warriors got what they needed out of playing the Jazz. Kerr acknowledged before the matchup his team wasn’t going to “do backflips” in an effort to win the game. But, Kerr did want to see his team play well for at least a half, before going deep into his rotation.

And that didn’t happen.

“It’s important that we start playing well,” Golden State shooting guard Klay Thompson said before Tuesday’s game. “It’s important that we start finding a rhythm. This game doesn’t mean much to us, at all. But we want to use it as a tuneup for Saturday.”

Tuesday’s loss assured the Warriors or avoiding both Utah and Oklahoma City in the first round. Both teams have the dynamic guard play, the length and athleticism and the defense to push Golden State with star guard Stephen Curry projected to miss the first round with a knee injury.

At the same time, this is a team that needs its rhythm back. In the past, Golden State’s been able to flip the switch whenever needed — and will need to do so again.

“We won 58 games this season,” Kerr said. “But in the end, none of that matters. It’s what you do in the playoffs. That’s the test. That’s the challenge. We’ll see what happens. We’re trying to get back to the finals for the fourth year in a row. And only a few teams have been able to do that. So, that’s the challenge.”